The general public has twisted ideas about female veterans...time to change the conversation

Kathie Costos on Remember The Fallen

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 20, 2020

Last night I was the guest on Remember The Fallen Podcast with one of my buddies, Sgt. Dave Matthews who was with the Florida National Guard.

The topic was military women and veterans. You would think that since women have fought for this country...before it was one, they would not be regarded as second class anything, but they are.

The general public has twisted ideas about them. Take a man and woman, sitting together, each with a military hat on, the male is thanked for his service, while the woman is lucky to get a reluctant smile. It is the same when they hear about a female veteran with PTSD.

Hear about a male veteran with PTSD and right away, folks assume combat. Hear about a female veteran with PTSD and they think sexual assault. Even now researchers and reporters point to that when offering facts, instead of acknowledging that women are exposed to most of the same traumas males endure...and males are also exposed to sexual assaults too!

In this episode, Dave mentioned a woman during the Revolutionary War who strapped down her breasts so that she could serve next to the males. We did not get to talk more about her, but this is the woman we were talking about.

Deborah Sampson became a hero of the American Revolution when she disguised herself as a man and joined the Patriot forces. She was the only woman to earn a full military pension for participation in the Revolutionary army.

When we talk about our fabulous females, all things are considered and they are equally worthy of honor for their service. The percentage, while growing, remains a barrier to healing, that does not have to be there. We are doing what we can to break that down by helping you #BreakTheSilence so you hear it is possible to #TakeBackYourLife and be defined by what you decide to do from this moment onward!

HEAR HER ROAR on Remember The Fallen Podcast

DoD: Ready to respond to COVID-19 with ships, respirators, ventilators and crews!

DoD poised to provide supplies to combat virus

Fort Hood Sentinel
By C. Todd Lopez, DoD News
Mar 19, 2020

WASHINGTON — As part of the president’s whole-of-government approach to fighting the coronavirus pandemic, the Defense Department has agreed to provide medical supplies and capabilities to the Department of Health and Human Services to help combat further infections, Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper said.

The Defense Department will make available up to 5 million respirator masks and other personal protective equipment from its strategic reserves to the Department of Health and Human Services for distribution, Esper said during a news conference at the Pentagon today, adding that the first million masks would be made available immediately.

Esper said some 2,000 deployable ventilators would also be made available to HHS. Those devices, he said, are different from civilian equivalents and will require special training for civilian users, so DoD personnel likely will provide that training.

To help measure the spread of the coronavirus, the Defense Department has also made 14 certified testing labs available to test non-DoD personnel, and two labs would be added to that total, the secretary said.

Additionally, Esper said, DoD officials are considering use of the National Guard, the Reserve components, and capabilities such as the Navy’s hospital ships USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy. He said the Comfort is undergoing maintenance now and the Mercy is in port.
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Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) departs Naval Base San Diego in support of Pacific Partnership 2018 (PP18) on Feb. 23, 2018. US Navy Photo

This video is from 2014 and but shows what the USNS Mercy crew is prepared to do.

Sailors describe their jobs and responsibilities aboard USNS Mercy.

UPDATE
US Navy hospital ship Comfort reportedly won't be ready for weeks

New York Post

The US Navy hospital ship Comfort that President Trump said would be dispatched to New York

First Responders "professionals are not immune to experiencing the impact of the crises they respond to"

First responders need support too

Metro West Daily
By Michael Coughlin
March 19, 2020

While Covid-19 is a unique (and hopefully temporary!) crisis, first responders are on call every day to mobilize on a moment’s notice to assist those in medical crisis, drug overdoses, criminal activity, or natural or human-caused disasters. Think about it: EMTs in this area on a daily basis are administering multiple doses of Narcan to people who have overdosed on top of other medical emergencies. Police officers are constantly called to intervene in tense and dangerous situations all over the community. Hospital emergency room staff go from one medical crisis to the next without catching a breath.

The current worldwide concern about the spreading epidemic of Covid-19, the coronavirus, has reached emergency status in a growing number of hot zones such as Washington state and Northern Italy in addition to the locations in Asia where it first took hold. Closer to home a February biomedical conference in Boston is now linked to as many as 15 new cases of the virus.

At times like these, our community relies heavily on the trained professionals who respond to assist us at times of emergency. We take for granted the role that doctors and other public health professionals, paramedics and EMTs, fire fighters, police officers, and other emergency professionals play to keep the rest of us as healthy and safe as possible. But those professionals are not immune to experiencing the impact of the crises they respond to. Look no further than the heartbreaking story of the young physician in China who was reprimanded for first calling attention to the seriousness of the virus’ threat who then ended up contracting the virus and died from it.
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Senate bill protects veterans in college during COVID-19 at home study

Senate passes emergency bill protecting GI Bill benefits as colleges go online

Stars and Stripes
By NIKKI WENTLING
Published: March 17, 2020

Rep. Phil Roe of Tennessee, the ranking Republican of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, introduced a bill last week that also would guarantee the housing stipends for student veterans remain unchanged during the outbreak.

Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Ranking Member Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., asks questions to witnesses during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020. Looking on at right is committee Chairman Jerry Moran, R-Kansas.
CARLOS BONGIOANNI/STARS AND STRIPES

WASHINGTON — The Senate approved a measure late Monday that would ensure student veterans continue to receive full GI Bill benefits, even as colleges go online-only in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

GI Bill recipients rely on monthly stipends from the Department of Veterans Affairs to pay for housing, food and other bills. Those payments are higher for students who attend physical classes as opposed to online coursework. As classes began to move online last week to help prevent the spread of coronavirus, tens of thousands of student veterans faced the possibility of losing their benefits or seeing drastic cuts to their monthly checks.

The Senate approved an emergency fix by voice vote that would allow students to retain the amount of benefits they received when they started the semester. It gives the VA Secretary broad authority to ensure GI Bill benefits are distributed without interruption during national emergencies.
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Brooklyn VA Doctor tested positive for COVID-19 after treating patients

VA physician tests positive for COVID-19, treated patients before being quarantined

Military Times
Patricia Kime
March 17, 2020

A memo distributed to VA New York Health Center employees and obtained by the New York Post said the employee was “doing well,” and “those who interacted with the employee are being contacted.”

The Brooklyn VA Medical Center last week discovered the first case of the novel coronavirus in an employee. (Department of Veterans Affairs photo)

A doctor at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus last week, after seeing patients and working alongside other staff members before knowing he had the virus.

VA officials confirmed Friday that an “employee tested presumptive positive for the novel coronavirus” on March 11, but they would say little else about the case, citing privacy concerns.

The employee is the first known VA worker to have contracted the virus.

“On March 11, 2020, one New York Harbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center employee tested presumptive positive for COVID-19. In accordance with CDC guidelines and the patient’s clinical status, the veteran is currently in home isolation, mitigating further risk of transmission to other patients and staff,” Steve Piork, director of the VA New York Public Affairs Office, told Military Times.
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